How Did Valentine’s Day Originate and How Did Valentine Become the Patron Saint of Lovers?

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Karen Hill

In 270 AD, the mad Roman emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage because he believed married men made for bad soldiers.

Ignoring the emperor, Bishop Valentine continued to marry young lovers in secret until his disobedience was discovered and he was sentenced to death.

As legend has it, he fell in love with the jailer’s blind daughter, and through a miracle he restored her sight.

On his way to execution, he left her a farewell note ending in, “From Your Valentine.”

Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14 celebrating love and affection between lovers, and first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages.

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